CHANDRASHILA

When you walk out exploring the nature around, you return discovering yourself!

On 25th September 2015, at 4 o'clock in the morning we departed from IIT Roorkee campus via private bus for our Deoriatal - ChandraShila Trek. We were a group of 19 girls, 2 Trek Leads (boys) and one Professor from our college. Around 6:30 in morning we reached Rishikesh and just 2-3 Kms from the very famous Laxman Jhoola we took a halt and had ur breakfast. The scenic beauty of River Ganges, high altitude mountains was mesmerizing.

After a halt of about 25 minutes we again started our journey. The journey was beautiful. We were travelling in the lap of mountains. Fresh air, greenery everywhere freshened up our body and souls. Throughout the route we were accompanied by River Ganges and its tributaries Mandakini and Alaknanda. Mandakini river originates from Chorabari Glacier near Kedarnath and flows along the national highway in Rudraprayag. Rudraprayag is the confluence point of the River Mandakini and River Alaknanda. It is one of the panch prayags [Five Prayag] i.e. VishnuPrayag, NandaPrayag, KarnaPrayag, RudraPrayag and Devprayag.

Around 12:30 we reached Ukhimath and had our lunch at some local dhaba there. The food was very tasty and we all enjoyed our meal. Our next stop after this halt was directly at Sari Village where arrangements for our stay were done at some hotel. It was planned like that after checking in at hotel at Sari Village we will head towards trek for Deoriatal. But due to time constraints we didn't check in at hotel and we first headed for trek to Deoriatal.

The starting point for the trek to Deoriatal is Sari Village. It is a beautiful small village located near Ukhimath in the RudraPrayag District. It is located at a height of around 6500 feets from the sea level. 

Deoriatal is just 2.3Kms trek from Sari village. Sari village is not just the base location for Deoriatal Trek but also for Tungnath Chandrashila trek. Chopta can easily be reached from Sari village in just few hours via bus or private vehicle. Generally this route is followed during the winters when due to snow there is no accommodation available at Chopta.

We chose Sari village as our base camp and stayed in hotel there. On day one we trekked towards Deoriatal from Sari village and on Day two we headed towards Chopta by our bus.

We started our trek at around 3 o'clock. It was a paved path to Deoriatal. It took us around one and a half hour to reach deoriatal. It is a too long time to trek such a small distance but since many of us were first timers and also much of our time was consumed in clicking pictures and praising beauty around. Detailed and elaborative post on Deoriatal can be read at:

http://maheshndivya.blogspot.in/2015/10/deoria-tal.html

We returned back by 6 in evening to Sari village and headed towards our hotel, Hotel Snow View. We had arrangements for Bonfire but due to rains it got cancelled. Also the temperature was going down, so after having dinner we slipped into our cozy beds and immediately fell asleep.

In morning we woke up at 6 o'clock, the view from our room's gallery was outstanding. Our hotel was all surrounded by the mountains and the beautiful landscapes. We enjoyed morning tea in the beautiful surroundings.

After having breakfast, we headed towards Chopta. The bus route was majestic. Curvy roads, beautiful meadows was giving thrilling as well as beautiful feeling. We were all dancing, singing, chatting in the bus. And in near about an hour we reached Chopta which is the base site for the trek to Tungnath and Chandrashila. One could read a beautiful post about Trek to Tungnath in the link below:

http://maheshndivya.blogspot.in/2015/11/in-continuation-to-my-last-post-on.html

After seeking blessings from Lord Shiva at Tungnath Temple we decided to move towards Chandrashila. Chandrashila is the highest attainable peak in the region. The difficulty level of the trek is from easy to moderate depending on the weather conditions. The local shopkeepers warned us not to trek to Chandrashila as the climate was not good and rain was expected anytime. Since we were the group of young engineers we decided to climb up as many people were taking the risk. The path to Chandrashila is not paved and was scary at many places.

Chandrashila means “Moon Rock” which is about 13000 feets (approximately) above the sea level. The beauty of the place is mesmerising. It provides an amazing panoramic view of the Himalayan Range. There are two stories associated with the place. One is that the Lord Rama meditated after defeating the demon – king Ravana. Rama came to Chandrashila to meditate and pray lord Shiva to cleanse the sins of killing Ravana. Another one says that Moon – God Chandra spent time here in penance so the name is ChandraShila.

The whole trekking route was decorated with natural beauty having several kinds of gigantic widespread meadow fields and slopes.

Enjoying the incredible beauty of the nature around, motivating each other, holding each other’s hand we reached on the top. The weather was pretty good that day. We were just expecting that rains should not come otherwise getting down from the peak would have become difficult.

On the top there was a Ganga Dham Mandir. There were clouds all around us. It was an amazing experience being above the clouds. But due the cloudy weather we missed the view of the Himalayan Ranges. May be, we were not destined to see that.

After spending sometime at the top, clicking pictures we decided to trek down to Chopta as the weather could take turn anytime and rain may come. While coming down, at some points the path was very frightening and it became very difficult to cross that stretch.

The weather was becoming mistier and we started feeling rain drops in some time. We continued our way down to Tungnath in the foggy weather.

Enjoying the scenic beauty around and praising God’s creation we reached to Tungnath. As we crossed just few meters from Tungnath it started raining. Since the path was paved we couldn’t find much difficulty to trek down to Chopta. Just the path became little slippery so we had to take cautious steps. After reaching Chopta we had some food and boarded bus to get back to our hotel. Over all it was a wonderful trek to Chandrashila.

Throughout the year trek to Chandrashila can be done. The route through Chopta is closed during winters due to heavy snow fall. The alternate route during winters is through Deoriatal. Also heavy woollens should be kept in order to get warm. During monsoons, the path may become muddy and slippery but still the trek can be enjoyed with little more cautious mind. Raincoats must be part of your stuff while trekking in rainy season. Spring could be ideal weather to trek to Chandrashila. Weather during spring is pleasant with warm sun. Some trekkers prefer the trek in summers also.

Next day, we woke up around 7 o’clock in morning and after having breakfast we headed back to Roorkee around 8 o’clock. On the way back we had some time left so we decided to trek at Neer waterfall near Rishikesh. It is a beautiful natural waterfall with crystal clear water at an altitude of approximately 1.5 kms, which starts 2 kms north from Laxman Jhula in Rishikesh. The difficulty level is very easy. Also one can reach by their own vehicle. There is also an entry ticket to the waterfall.

The waterfall has many cascading falls and ponds. Two bridges are made on the waterfall; one at almost 800-900 meters of height and other is just at the top.

Due to short of time, we trek till the first bridge only which is at about half the height. There are some benches and resting places. Also, many local shops are there, where tea, biscuits, maggie are served. Changing rooms are available so bring extra set of clothes and take dip in water pool and play in water fall.

The highest waterfall is supposed to be a twin waterfall. But some sources say that there is just one waterfall while on the side rappelling is done and it is known as “Wet Rappelling”. We climbed up to waterfall in approximately 40-50 mins. Regular trekkers may take less time to climb. While getting down took just 25-30 mins.

Since the trekking is all about exploring nature so please try to keep the nature as green as possible. Do not throw any waste around and keep the surroundings clean.

Keep Travelling! :-)